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Its Friday. And in my world, Fridays are back to being my Fridays again. Darn it.
A few months back, I had switched to a work schedule that gave me three days off (Thursday, Friday & Saturday). It was pretty much a perfect fit. I had a ‘weekend’ with Jack on F&S, but Thursday was my own.
Usually, I spent it editing, writing, and Facebooking, but it was ME time and if I wanted to wile away an hour with nail polish and DVR’d episodes of Chopped or Castle – so be it. This all changed, again, this past week. I’m back to the standard Monday through Friday grind, but at least, as I mentioned previously, I am working from home full-time.
What does all this have to do with writing?
Nothing, except that I’ve found I am having more difficulty getting editing done. I hope that work will calm down in the coming weeks, now that we’re a (mostly) complete team again. But this week, it seems that every time I turn my chair to face Incandescence, something comes up. ARGH!
Plus, I admit it, I’m a little frustrated by a loss I suffered in the catastrophic computer failure I experienced recently. The good news is that I was able to recover a recent back-up. The bad news is that I lost the part I had been working on the day before the crash and – pardon the caps – IT WAS MY FAVORITE BIT!
Deep breaths, P.P. Deep breaths…
*ahem*
Yes, I lost a big chunk of a chapter that I had been rewriting and was really, really happy with. I’m working on recapturing it, but somehow it just isn’t quite as ‘right’ this time through. C’est la vie. With luck, I’ll spontaneously remember how the changes were supposed to go.
I am suddenly reminded of a quote (mostly because I feel this post is getting a little bit whiny):

Mongol General: Wrong! Conan! What is best in life?

Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

Well, obviously that’s not true for me. I’d rather not hear the lamentation of any women. In fact, I suspect you all would rather not read the lamentation of any women. Not even this woman. And so, I shall stop sobbing about the lost material and move on, full of joy, to the next section!
…
Yay?
Okay. Moving on.
Today, as I mentioned, is Friday and I’ve got a meeting with the boss in a few hours. Hopefully, it is a painless affair and when I get back, the afternoon will be d.e.a.d. so that I can finish Part Two and move on to Part Three. The sooner I get the second draft done, the sooner my beta readers can get their grubby little hands on it.
Have I ever mentioned that I could really use a volunteer or two as beta readers? I have two men I trust dearly, but a third and fourth set of eyes would be very welcome.
If you’re interested, keep your eyes on the blog, because I’ll announce when its ready and officially ask for your help in making Incandescence the best it can be.

I am truly blessed.
I get to work from home.
Lots of people, myself included, talk about how they wish they could work from home, how wonderful it would be, how much more stuff they would get done, how much more time they would have, blah-blah blahbbity-blah-blah-blah. And to some extent, it is true. Here’s a list:

More Time: save an hour a day in commute time

Eat Better: using that ^ hour to make breakfast

More Accomplished: sneaking laundry or chores into my breaks

No Shoes: I fucking hate shoes. Don’t have to wear them.

No Socks: Double-ditto that!

Comfy Clothes: I can work in my PJs, if I so choose.

Always Home: No missed deliveries!

Peace & Quiet: No constant hum of other people distracting me

And that all sounds pretty awesome, right? It totally is. I am about to ‘go to work’ right now and all I have done to prepare is roll out of bed, brush and corral my crazy hair into a ponytail, scrub my teeth, and come to the pseudo-office-space to log-in. Note that – get dressed – is no where on that list. Tee-hee.
Unfortunately, one of my biggest goals in working from home, was sketching out more time to write and I have not really managed that at all. I seem to have even less time for writing. Plus, not all is as rosy as you might think when you’re alone (mostly) all day, trying to work at home.

More Time: Somehow translates to even less time for writing.

No Commute: Going to the store means leaving home, rather than a stop on the way.

Comfy Clothes: PJs almost every day makes you feel like a schlub.

Eat Better: No vending machine for a 2:30 pick-me-up.

Always Home: What’s the weather like? I have no windows!

Alone: No one to talk to (except chatting) or ask questions.

So, its not a perfect situation. But I do prefer it and I really do feel blessed that my incredible bosses have allowed (nay – asked!) that I work from home. I’m just saying – its not as ideal as I always envisioned.
I get up at 5:30 a.m., perform my morning ablutions, try to blog OR work on editing, attempt to catch up on my Facebook, ignore Twitter entirely, and then – work starts. My job is not one with much down-time, alas. The phone is always ringing, the inbox is always hopping, and before I know it – its quitting time. Then the evening comes, and after all day in this chair, the last thing I want to do is spend more time here, but I must. First, we’ll make dinner, then take a walk, then hang out with Jack, and then write- Oh crap! Its bedtime. Well, I’ll get to it in the morning. And repeat. Ad nauseum.
I’m just putting this out there as a cautionary tale.
Working from home does not mean you will magically have time to write.
You’re still going to have to eke it out wherever you can. You’re still going to have to put in the time and effort. You’re still going to have to DO something about it, if you want to be a writer.
How? Well, here’s another spiffy list!

Steal twenty minutes before work (like I am now) and blog or sprint or flash fiction – just to keep your writing muscles supple.

Schedule time and STICK to the schedule.

Make daily goals and keep journal/spreadsheet to track them.

Accept that some days you may not make your goals…

…but NEVER stop trying!

Life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, right? Well sometimes, life hands you lemonade and it turns out you fucking HATE lemonade. What then? Reduce that junk down in a pot with some butter and cream and whiskey and pour it over your asparagus.
Wait- what?
The point is – well, a) I watch too much Chopped, and b) even things you think you want may not be what you really need or like. But you’re a writer, right? A creative-type. So turn it on its ear and make it work for you. If you are serious about it, you have to REALLY work at it.
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate really working at anything? That’ll be another blog post.
For now, just… keep writing. Keep reading. And try that lemon-butter-whiskey cream sauce. It sounds ridiculously good right now…